Kawhi Leonard Ruled Out for Game 3 vs. Warriors After Ankle Injury

The San Antonio Spurs announced Kawhi Leonard will miss Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night at AT&T Center as he continues to deal with a sprained ankle. 

Leonard suffered a sprained ankle in Game 5 of the second-round matchup against the Houston Rockets, which forced him to miss the series-clinching Game 6. 

And while he worked his way back in time for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Leonard aggravated the injury in the third quarter when he landed awkwardly on Zaza Pachulia's foot following a corner jumper: 

The injury prevented Leonard from suiting up for Game 2, and the Warriors subsequently throttled the Spurs 136-100 at Oracle Arena.

"The only way I can process this is, I think it's not about O's and X's or rebounds or turnovers or anything like that," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said after the loss, according to NBA.com's Fran Blinebury. "I think we've maybe felt it too much, Kawhi being gone, in the sense that I don't think—as I watched—I don't think they believed."

Now San Antonio will try to tread water without Leonard even though it's proved incapable of doing so during the playoffs.  

To that point, the Spurs have outscored opponents by 10.9 points per 100 possessions during Leonard's 429 minutes on the floor this postseason. But when he sits, the team has been outscored by 10.5 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com's lineup data. 

Facing a must-win situation, the Spurs will have to summon their best collective effort of the season if they want to have any hope of preventing a sweep.